Posted on 12/10/2019 6:12:35 AM PST by EyesOfTX
First, in case you missed it because it came late yesterday afternoon, my summary of the Horowitz Report and its ramifications can be found here The IG Report: Not a Bombshell, But a Roadmap.
GOP Texas Congressman John Ratcliffe appeared on last nights Fox Report with Bret Baier for an 8 minute segment. Ratcliffes answers to Baiers questions are very revealing on a number of counts with a scattering of real bombshells throughout. Sad that neither Baier nor anyone else in the corrupt news media is curious enough to follow up on them. Below is the clip of that interview, followed by a transcript:
John Ratcliffe ✔ @RepRatcliffe The IGs role is to find facts, not to necessarily make conclusions. The facts in Horowitzs report say that the FBIs senior leadership kept an investigation going based on an entirely unreliable dossier even though they knew they didnt have a valid basis to do so.
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Heres the transcript, compiled with laborious effort for the voracious readers who typify the fan base for Todays Campaign Update. Youre welcome.:
Baier: I want to ask you about impeachment first. Is is a foregone conclusion that the House Democrats will vote on impeachment?
Ratcliffe: Yes. It appears the Democrats have burned the lifeboats behind them. They have made this decision, theyve got nowhere to go. I think they have to answer to their base. I think its a terrible decision for the American people. You can see what its not based on it is entirely political. But I gotta tell you, Brett: As a Republican, Its good for us.
Baier: Do you have any reason to believe that any of your GOP colleagues will vote for impeachment?
Ratcliffe: No. On the other hand, I can say with pretty good certainty that there will be Democrats that wont vote to impeach the President.
Baier: Do you think Nancy Pelosi has the votes right now?
Ratcliffe: I think she probably does. I think she wont call the vote unless she has the votes, so I think she probably does. Theyre going at breakneck speed. Theyre losing support, and before they lose enough to get it across the finish line, and thats why they want to have it next week after only being in the Judiciary Committee, the Committee of jurisdiction, for less than a week.
Baier: What happens if your side does not get a minority day hearing, which it doesnt look like is going to happen?
Ratcliffe: We wont. I think it will just demonstrate to the American people how perverted this process has been, how they wont follow any of the precedents or standards, particularly as it relates to fairness during the process.
Baier: You mentioned today, an interview with the inspector general, with the intelligence committee its a little hard to follow it here on set, ahh
Ratcliffe: Its a little cryptic, I had to be. I had to be because it still hasnt been released by Chairman Schiff. Its the first deposition that was taken and its the only one that hasnt been released. And the reason is it doesnt have anything to do with protecting the whistleblowers identity: It has to do with protecting the whistleblower and Chairman Schiff from having their credibility questioned.
The whistleblower did not make truthful disclosures to the inspector general. I questioned the IG about that the transcript will reveal that. That ought to be made public. No one should be voting to impeach an American president before they look at the real origins of this. The origins of this was not a whistleblower filing a complaint on August 12. It was a person who later became a whistleblower walking into Chairman Schiffs office two weeks before that.
Baier: So you have zero hope that you will hear from Adam Schiff or the whistleblower.
Ratcliffe: He wasnt even at the hearing today. Hes been making all of the decisions behind this and he wasnt even at the hearing today.
Baier: Ok, lets turn to the IG report this is the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, take a listen. [Plays a clip of Schumer lying about the IG report.] That was the top headline that the Democrats focused on in this line: We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence of political bias or improper motivation. You response?
Ratcliffe: So theres two important things that went on here. One: Did the FBI meet the very low threshold for an articulate and factual basis to really suspect there was a threat to national security? The IG made the conclusion that they met that very low threshold to get the investigation started. The problem for the FBI and for the Democrats who want to somehow declare this as a victory is, everything after that is an indictment of the process. Even if there was a basis to open it, everything that came after it was exculpatory. There was no reason to continue it.
And the second part of this thats really important is, when they got to the stage of a FISA application in October, as you see in here, this report is just completely full of what the IG politely says are errors and omissions. Another way of saying that is lies, misrepresentations, false statements and a failure to turn over exculpatory information.
Baier: Is that what strikes you most about this report?
Ratcliffe: Absolutely. Its a validation of every one of us thats been saying there was FISA abuse. Its why the Attorney Generals statement today was, this is clear evidence of FISA abuse. Unfortunately, we were right about that, and thats a real problem for the FBI.
Baier: But this doesnt back up the Presidents its a coup to take him down in this report
Ratcliffe: Actually, I dont know that you can say that, Brett
Baier: well, at least the IG says that.
Ratcliffe: Well, the IGs role is to find facts, not to make conclusions, and actually I agree with most of the facts that the IG finds. The facts in here say that the FBIs senior leadership kept an investigation going where they knew they had no evidence it was based on a dossier that was entirely unreliable and they knew it. And they did that, to continue an investigation into a candidate that later became President. And they didnt have a basis to do that. And thats in this report.
Baier: What about the criticism of Barr, that he comes out with this statement today, clearly differing on several points with the IG, and a short time later the U.S. Attorney, John Durham, puts out a statement in which he says his findings do not jive with what the IG finds. Thats pretty rare, is it not?
Ratcliffe: No, its not. Because really what it is is a sign of respect. John Durham waited until Horowitzs report came out thats why he hasnt made public statements. But now that the IG report is out, he is free to talk about the facts about what he has found. The first thing that he told you was, I appreciate the IG, but my jurisdiction isnt limited. I have greater jurisdiction, and what I have found isnt consistent with his conclusions about that seminal issue, the predication issue.
The AGs special prosecutor in this case, John Durham, is saying, I have a problem with the predication here. I disagree with the IG there was not probable cause to open this investigation. So, I think
Baier: Critics have said that if hes a prosecutor, does he make his case, bring it to a grand jury, make a charge before making a statement. Republicans were very critical of James Comey and what he did
Ratcliffe: Absolutely, and he didnt make a finding with respect to that [as Comey did]. What he said was, I take with the IGs findings and conclusions regarding the predication issue
Baier: He didnt say what his was.
Ratcliffe: He didnt say what his was. But I think its a clear sign of where hes going on this, which is I have greater jurisdiction. Ive done a lot more with regard to this investigation, and I think in short order we are going to hear from John Durham that the predication just wasnt there, as most of us really dont see it even in this report.
Baier: So weve characterized, on our panel in talking about this, that theres two tracks here: Theres the impeachment track, and then theres this John Durham/IG track. Is it your sense that theres a race now to figure out whos gonna get to the finish line on what happens?
Ratcliffe: Ive said that all along, that thats whats driving this fast track [on impeachment]. They want to impeach this President so that when news like this comes out, they can say gosh, were sorry there was FISA abuse, but this guy still shouldve been impeached. Thats why theyve been racing through this. This report by itself, I think the more you look at it, the more you see, its an indictment of Jim Comeys leadership at the FBI. This is a profound statement about how bad things were there with regard to an investigation that was continued without evidence to support it. I think folks at the FBI are horrified and dismayed by whats in this report, and its only gonna get worse by what John Durham finds because he has the ability to go out and talk to the intelligence communities and people who werent working in the government.
[End]
To me, the most intriguing piece of this interview is Ratcliffes statement about there still being one more interview transcript the very first interview taken in the basement of the Capitol Building that Adam Schiff has refused to release. When you look at what Ratcliffe reveals about that transcript, that the witness says that Eric Ciaramella in fact walked into Schiffs office two weeks before his fake whistleblower complaint was filed, you can see why Schiff refuses to release it.
After all, during the recent impeachment hearings before his Committee, Schiff very publicly and repeatedly denied assertions by GOP members that he knew the whistleblowers identity and had in fact met Ciaramella. The fact that he refuses to release this single transcript would, in a world where we had an actual, working journalism profession, set off a firestorm of demands from the news media that Schiff release the transcript immediately.
But we dont have an actual, working journalism profession in our country anymore, so no such firestorm will come.
Even more interesting to me is that what Ratcliffe said to Baier was not very cryptic at all, and probably violates Schiffs dictatorial secrecy order about the content of any transcripts that havent been released. It will be interesting to see if Schiff attempts to retaliate. I doubt he will, because doing so might actually wake some of the lapdog fake journalists up from their nap on the subject.
The other reason why I took the time to transcribe this particular clip out of all the interview clips available this morning is because Ratcliffe himself is a former U.S. Attorney. He more than anyone understands how all these moving parts interrelate to one another.
Ratcliffe also reinforces what we pointed out here yesterday afternoon: That the real news about all of this is not what Horowitzs report finds, but what Durham said in his statement that immediately followed the reports release. Because it is Durham who has subpoena authority; it is Durham who has the power to compel testimony from witnesses outside of the DOJ/FBI employee base; it is Durham who has the power to impanel grand juries which he has already done; and it is Durham who has the power to issue indictments and order arrests and stage perp walks.
The IG Report is out. Now, its Durham Time.
That is all.
Thanks for the transcript.
Isnt Schifftys withholding of the first transcript obstruction of justice, especially since it provides proof that he and or his staff colluded with the whistleblower?
Durham’s had over 2 years and now the field is clear.
Let’s see the indictments roll. I have no patience for another Lucy and the football scenario.
DB is a must read, every day. Thank you.
Or if he is part of the still ongoing whitewash itself.
One or the other, no way IG Horowitz is dumb or naive enough to actually believe the garbage conclusions of his report.
He is either doing a Kabuki two step with Barr and Durham to move the ball forward in some semi coordinated fashion or he is compromised.
Lindsey Grahams Senate hearing will be a big tell.
Impeachment is only about Horowitz Durham Barr. Its not a coincidence that they planned the hearing same day as Horowitz report came out. Wouldnt be surprised if they schedule the vote tomorrow. Then Durham can follow his report the day after impeachment vote.
It still remains to be seen whether Nan has the votes. And is she so insane that she’s ready to lose the House next year to impeach a President who will not be removed from office.
This interview is very encouraging!
Sure it happened on Fox News, so it could be called preaching to the choir, but this is not Hannity, this is Bret Baier, the MSM faction of Fox News.
To me this means the SpyGate side of the story is only a few steps away from finally hitting the MSM.
Durhams report, and the Senate trial, if there is one, may well leave some in the MSM no choice but to finally treat Spygate like the scandal it is. Once it starts, if it starts, it will snowball as they they compete to get ahead of it and pretend thats what they were saying all along.
Ratcliffe seems like a sharp guy. Hope we see more of his type. Though he does look a bit like the mayor of Whoville.
Ratcliffe would be DNI now except the Bush League Republicans in the Senate blocked him.
Thanx for posting transcript.
Most people WILL miss anything on brett baire show
Enough, is enough.
With the Democrats ready vote for the articles of impeachment, I think it is time.
Time for one or more of the Republican Representatives to openly violate Schiff’s orders of secrecy. They should public disclose the hidden depositions and transcripts.
They need to take a stand as citizens of the United States of America and force Schiff and the other Democrats to defend their lawlessness. They need to call Schiff’s bluff and stand up for the other citizens of the United States.
The Senate, with their Congressional oversight, should immediately begin an investigation into Schiff’s conduct and determine whether he and others violated laws. And, if so, send recommendations for prosecutions to Attorney General Barr. Prosecutions and convictions have to start.
NOW.
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